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Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Mantra Swirl Soap

Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

This soap is perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth. With a delectable combination of one of our favorite fragrances Oatmeal, Milk and Honey, paired with Chocolate Espresso Cybilla, this soap is reminiscent of a delightfully sweet mocha. We used a mantra swirl technique to give the finished soap an elegant look, and I think it may even look a bit like fluffy foam or whipped cream (can you tell I’m craving coffee?).

Recipe:

54 oz Lots of Lather Quick Mix

7.8 oz Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)

18 oz Distilled Water

Titanium Dioxide Pigment

Dutch Cocoa Powder

1 oz Chocolate Espresso Cybilla Fragrance Oil

2.5 oz Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Fragrance Oil

3 Tablespoons Honey, divided

3.5 Tablespoons Oat Extract, divided

5# Wood Mold with Sliding Bottom

Silicone Liner for 5# Wood Loaf Mold

1 Condiment Squirt Bottle

Chopstick or Skewer

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

Psst...if you don’t have the Lots of Lather Quick Mix handy, try the technique with this recipe of 25% Palm Oil, 30% Coconut Oil, 25% Canola Oil, 10% Sunflower Oil, 5% Castor Oil and 5% Shea Butter.

MOLD PREP: Create a faux divider in the loaf mold, following steps 1-4 as laid out in this tutorial. This time, instead of centering your faux divider, offset it to one side so that it is approximately 2 inches away from one edge of the mold.

COLOR PREP: Disperse 1 teaspoon of Titanium Dioxide in 1 Tablespoon of Sunflower Oil (or any lightweight, liquid oil). Mix well with the help of a mini-mixer, but be sure to saturate the powdered pigment in the oil before turning on the mini-mixer or you’ll end up with a messy puff of pigment! Put 2 teaspoons of dispersed Titanium Dioxide into the Condiment Squirt Bottle.

SAFETY PREP: Goggles on! Gloves on! Long sleeves, check! Make sure that kids, pets, and other distractions or tripping hazards are out of the house or otherwise occupied (read: out of your soaping space). Always soap in a well-ventilated area.

If you’ve never made Cold Process soap before, this is a great recipe for getting your feet wet! However, I still highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on Cold Process Soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, as well as digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.

ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until clear. Set aside to cool.

TWO: Heat up the entire container of Lots of Lather Quick Mix Oil and measure out 54 oz. Heating up the entire container is necessary in order to fully mix the Palm Oil in the recipe.

THREE: Once the oils and the lye water have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and ideally within 10 degrees of each other), slowly and carefully pour the lye water into the oils. I like to pour down the shaft of my stick blender to prevent air bubbles.

FOUR: Bring the soap batter to light trace. Pour some of the batter into the condiment bottle with the dispersed Titanium Dioxide, filling the bottle about 1/3 full. Replace the cap on the bottle, and with your (gloved) finger covering the tip, shake the bottle to mix up the soap batter and colorant. Release your finger with the tip pointing away from your face.

FIVE: Split off 3 cups of the remaining soap into a separate container, leaving about 7 cups in your original container. To the 3 cup batch, add 1.5 Tablespoons Oat Extract, 1 Tablespoon Honey, and 1/2 Tablespoon Dutch Cocoa Powder. To the 7 cup batch, add 2 Tablespoons Oat Extract and 2 Tablespoons of Honey. Mix both batches well using a whisk so not to accelerate trace.

SIX: To the 7 cup batch, add the Oatmeal Milk and Honey fragrance oil and mix well. To the 3 cup batch, add the Chocolate Espresso Cybilla fragrance oil and mix well.

SEVEN: Time to harness that core strength! Pour both soap batches into the mold at the same time. Remove the faux divider from the mold.

EIGHT: Put your finger over the tip of the condiment bottle and give it another good shake (pointing the tip away from your face when you remove your finger). Squeeze out a line of soap directly over the line created where the cocoa-colored soap and the uncolored soap meet. Swirl the soap in figure-eight pattern with the chopstick or skewer inserted all the way into the soap.

Mantra Swirl Pattern

NINE: Spray the top of the soap with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and cover and insulate for 24 hours. Allow to sit in the mold for 2-3 days. Unmold, cut and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!

 

 

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59 Comments

  1. So I tried this out and my cocoa batch set up way before the Oatmeal milk and honey batch, arggggg! So I just added the white mixture into the Oatmeal batch to thicken it up. And it did a little bit so I just had to pour and swirl it all together 🙁 still turned out Awesome! I will put pictures up tomorrow on facebook! I will try it again. I have so much of the Oatmeal and honey scent and I just really admire this bar, mabye next time. Thanks for the tutorial, Kristie

    • Hi Kristie!

      Oh no! I’m glad that soap still turned out awesome though. 🙂

      I’d love to help you troubleshoot. What were your oil and lye temperatures? How long did you stick blend the batch? Let me know and we’ll get this figured out!

      -Kelsey with Bramble Berry

  2. Hi, I was wondering if a 1/3 coconut oil, 1/3 olive oil and a 1/3 sunflower oil soap would turn out and if anyone has any idea how long it takes to harden. I’d like to know as I want to make some spring gifts for friends and family. Ideally, I’d like 5% superfat and I’ll be flavouring with may chang essential oil.

  3. This was my first CP project and after watching all of the SoapQueens videos on CP I decides to try making a CP soap myself. I bought all of the materials needed from Brambleberry, had a slight issue with shipping, but the Brambleberry staff was very accommodating and friendly. This soap smelled so good, and it has been a huge hit with coworkers and family members that I gifted bars to. Thank you very much for this wonderful recipe! I think the next one I’ll try is the lemon poppy seed soap! Just need to wait for them to restock on those fragrances. Thanks to the Brambleberry team and Anne-Marie for helping to make my first CP project successful.

  4. What is the right temperature for the mixing of oil and sodium hydroxide,,, I mingle at 120f or Class 100 f,,

    • Hi there!

      Those temperatures will work just fine! We recommend soaping below 130 degrees, and ideally you want your oils and lye to be within 10 degrees of each other 🙂

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  5. Thanks to the speed of the response I am fond of making soap, what colors best and clearest way to cold,,,

    • Hi there!

      I would love to help you, but I’m not quite sure what your questions is 🙂 I’m sorry about that!

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  6. Hello, I make soap, after 24 hours of work directed by the template and are uncut and left three days and then I am using is good, why leave it three weeks, the recipe that I used to make soap are olive oil, 500 grams, coconut oil 500, water 300, Soda 152

    • Hi Abrar!

      It’s true that after about 3 or 4 days, your soap is fine to use. We recommend letting it cure for several weeks after, because the moisture in the soap will continue to diminish, and your soap will last longer in the shower 🙂

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  7. Hi,

    Thanks for all the incredible information!

    In the directions you note a formula to try if you don’t have the Lots Of Lather Quick Mix handy (25% Palm Oil, 30% Coconut Oil, 25% Canola Oil, 10% Sunflower Oil, 5% Castor Oil and 5% Shea Butter) that is different than what listed as the ingredients on Bramble Berry site for Lots Of Lather Quick Mix. The description on Bramble Berry is: “The Lots of Lather Quick Mix is comprised of Coconut, Palm Oil, Canola Oil, Olive Oil and Castor Oil”. Why the disconnect?

    Thanks,

    Mark

    • Hi Mark!

      The majority of the recipe above is comprised of the same oils in the Lots of Lather Quick Mix, and we have found it results in a truly great bar of soap! We listed this recipe just to give another oil combination that would work well 🙂

      If you would like to tweak this recipe to contain only the oils found in the Quick Mix (removing the Shea Butter and Sunflower Oil) and increase the other oils, you certainly can, just make sure to run it through a lye calculator again 🙂

      Lye Calculator:
      https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx

      I hope this helps!

      -Amanda with Bramble Berry

  8. Hello,

    Thank you for such a lovely tutorial. I can’t wait to get stuck in and try this one.

    Re temperature. do you use fahrenheit or Celsius?

    ‘Once the oils and the lye water have cooled to 130 degrees or below’

    Thank you

    Karen

  9. Hi I have a question ,if I want to add extracts to the soap or liquid silk do I subtract the percent off the liquid amount? such as if i wanted to add 10% of oat extract to a soap recipe do I deduct 10% of the liquid amount?

    • Good morning, Marleny!

      If you are adding extracts or liquid silk to you recipe you do not actually have to take a percentage of your liquid amount at all. To add an extract to your soap, total up the entire weight (oils/butters + water + lye) and then use would use 10% (make sure to stay within the recommended usage rate) of that extract in your batch. I hope this helps! =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  10. Hi, I just love your tutorials. Can this process be used for Melt and Pour as well? Would the results be similar? I’m new to soaping!

  11. I’m so excited that I found this site! It’s amazing!!! I’m new to soaping and can’t wait to try this out. I have a question about the lye…i’m embarrassed to admit I’m a little intimidated by it. I’d like my soaps to be all natural, will I be compromising this using lye? Do I have anything to be afraid of using lye? Thanks any help/advice is truly appreciated! 🙂

    • Hi Dawn!

      Welcome to the soapmaking world, we are so excited that you have decided to start and here to help you out with any questions you might have!

      Lye is actually what make soap…well, soap! The saponification process (what happens when the lye water and fixed oils meet and mingle) is necessary to achieve a final bar of soap, but once your soap has cured for the usual 4-6 weeks active lye is no longer present in your soap. In fact, there are studies showing that after the first 24 hours after a bar of soap is born, most of the saponification process has already taken place! Here is a great intro blog post to CP (cold process) soapmaking with a downloadable PDF that can introduce you to basic soapmaking terms.

      Free Beginner’s Guide To Soapmaking: Cold Process: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/cold-process-soap/free-beginners-guide-to-soapmaking-cold-process/

      As with any caustic ingredient, you will want to take proper safety precautions when handling. Here is a great intro series to cold process soaping from Soap Queen TV that I think could really help you out.

      Soap Queen TV – Cold Process Soapmaking: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAADF6209996265D2

      I hope this helps! Let us know if you have any other questions. 🙂

      Happy Soaping!
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  12. hi i have a few questions this recipe looks great and i imagine that it smells divine.i am wondering i would like to make a smaller batch how can i figure out how much to add of the ingridients like titanium dioxide cocoa and honey also how do i figure out how much fragance to add do i put just the oil weight in the fragance calculator or the total weight of the soap.thanks i just love you guys so much great info!!!

    • Hi Mel!

      We are so excited that you are going to be trying out the Lots of Lather Quick Mix and can’t wait to hear how it works for you. If you are wanting to make a smaller batch, you can use the handy mini-lye calculator on the Lots of Lather Quick Mix Product Page.

      Lots of Lather Quick Mix: https://www.brambleberry.com/Lots-of-Lather-Quick-Mix-P5524.aspx

      Go ahead and pop in the amount of the mix that you would like to use and choose your superfat. Once you’ve gotten the total yield, you can input that amount in our Fragrance Calculator and choose the Bramble Berry fragrance or essential oil that you are going to be using. The general usage rate for fragrances in cold process is going to be about .7 ounces of fragrance oil per pound of soap.

      Fragrance Calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Fragrance-Calculator.aspx

      When adding in the Dutch Cocoa Powder, I’d suggest starting out at 1 teaspoon of colorant per pound of soap and you can always add more if you want a darker hue. With the oxides (like Titanium Dioxide), we suggest pre-dispersing 1/2 teaspoon of it in 1 ounce of a carrier oil like Sweet Almond or Olive Oil. Once you have it dispersed, you can add 1 teaspoon of colorant to your soap per pound of soap.

      When using honey in your cold process soap batches, we suggest using it at around 3% of your total batch.Just be aware that you will need to keep your temperatures low (around 100 degrees Fahrenheit) to prevent scorching.

      I hope this helps! Keep us updated on how your batch turns out. =)
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      • thanks! but to clarify a bit when i use the fragance calculator do i input the total weight of the batch or just the oil weight also with lotions is it the same, do i use total weight of the lotion? one more thing im trying to figure out how much oat extract to use, can you please advise me what a good percentage would be to use?

        • Hi Mel!

          When you are trying to figure out how much fragrance to use in your lotions, soaps, scrubs, etc. You are always going to want to go by the total weight — you definitely wouldn’t want to only scent half your batch. =) If you’d like to add Oat Extract to your lotions, the suggested use is up to 10% in lotions. So it’s totally up to you how much you use as long as you go by the recommended usage rate. I hope this helps! Keep us updated on how your lotion turns out.

          -Becky with Bramble Berry

  13. Just received the supplies necessary to make this recipe I’m off to make it!!!

  14. Ok, I’m also new at soap making, I love it so far and Brambleberry has made my experience so great! Thank you for all the willingness to help! Now I have to ask….may be a silly question, but what is the deal with palm oil? Why the stigma?

  16. I am loving this blog, and I spent the last couple of days devouring every video. I have a small tip that might come in handy. In at least one video, and again on this blog entry, you mentioned making sure that you point the squeeze bottle away from you after shaking because they tend to spit. Very good advice. Did you know that if you squeeze it juuuust a bit before you put your finger on the tip, you can eliminate the spittin’. When you remove your finger, the suction will suck air in, rather than spit it out. I always point the tip away from myself if I’ve shaken anything chemical, of course, but this doubly ensures that nothing harmful will go spraying where you don’t want it to. 🙂 I’m going to tackle cold process soap making soon and I can’t wait to shop at Brambleberry for my supplies. Yay!

    • Hi Tilly!

      Thank you so much for the great suggestion, I’ll definitely pass it onto to Anne-Marie. We are so excited that you found the Soap Queen blog and Soap Queen TV and can’t wait to hear more about your soaping adventures. Be sure to go and like Bramble Berry’s Facebook page so that you can stay up-to-date on the latest news, products and recipes.

      Happy Soaping!
      -Becky with Bramble Berry

      https://www.facebook.com/BrambleBerry

  17. I am newer to soaping have about 8 batches under my belt, I must say this one was fun to make but man I fail so bad at making it look as beautiful as you do!! LOL uuggghhh I don’t know if I am rushing or if I am bringing it to too thick of a trace!! I love your instructions and brambleberry all of it!! Thank you so much for the detailed instructions!! I am working at it and I keep coming back and not giving up!! I will post a picture of my un-pretty but beautifully scented soap here when it cures!! lol lol

  18. This looks amazing!!!!

    I’d love to make this but as Tracy mentioned above I am also looking to substitute the palm oil. Any suggestions? Thanks

  19. Troublemaker here…we don’t use palm oil for Eco-ethical reasons and avoid canola oil because we are a non-GMO family. Could we use olive oil in place if the canola, and maybe more coconut to replace the palm oil? Thanks so much!

    • Good morning, Tracy!

      This is such a fun recipe and you will have such a blast making the design. Yep, you could totally sub Olive for Canola and more Coconut for the Palm! While that substitution will result in some fabulous bubbles, it may result in a less nourishing bar. Another option would be to sub Olive Oil for both the Palm and the Canola, which would give you a less drying and more nourishing bar. But, the trade-off would be smaller bubbles and possibly a longer time in the mold because of the slightly softer recipe. Keep us updated on your progress, we’d love to hear how they turn out. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  20. Wow, what a gorgeous soap! I’ve got to try the mantra swirl soon. And the scent combo sounds fantastic! I think I have both of those FOs.

  22. I’m new to soapmaking and I want to make this but I have a question. Doesn’t the cocoa powerd turn the lathered soap brown and stain your skin? Thanks, Kate

    • Hi Kate!

      What a great question. As long as you don’t over color your soap, the lather won’t stain your skin brown at all. For this particular recipe, we suggest using only 1/2 Tablespoon of the Dutch Cocoa Powder, which isn’t enough to stain your skin at all! But, the soap does lather a very light brown so be prepared for that. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

    • Good morning, Pam!

      I so get that! It smells so delicious, and the combination of the Chocolate Espresso and Oatmeal Milk & Honey is absolutely divine. Let us know if you try it out, we’d love to get your feedback. Happy Soaping! =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry

  26. I love the colors in this soap and can’t wait to see how the two fragrances combined will smell. I have lots of soap making oils and was wondering if you would consider including in your recipes a breakdown of the amounts of each oil needed for this recipe. I’m new to soap making and have not master the use of the calculator to get the proper amounts of oil needed in a soap recipe.

    • Hi Cyndi!

      Thanks for stopping by. We are so glad you think it’s as gorgeous as we do. You should totally try it out! You will just love the fragrance combo (Chocolate Espresso + OMH is to die for)! Let us know if you try it out, we’d love to hear about how it goes for you. =)

      -Becky with Bramble Berry